2. Merger

2.1 Electron bombardment melting

A copper crucible cooled externally by circulating water is used (figure 3 ). This crucible contains a block of titanium or titanium alloy, which is bombarded by a rotating electron beam of 50 to 1,000 kW under a high vacuum of the order of 10 ^-2 Pa.

Under these conditions, the upper part of the block is melted and heated to between 1,800 and 2,000°C.

However, the crucible is only in contact with the solid part of the metal block, and this solid-state contact between the cooled crucible and the titanium does not give rise to a chemical reaction.

When...